Kris Allen, the ultimate underdog, has made one of the biggest comebacks in television history! After 620 million votes, 19 weeks, 100,000 auditions, an extra judge and a bikini girl, Kris Allen is your new American Idol. The all-American, married boy next door defeated the glammed-out, leather-clad rocker and is now the eighth reigning champ in the Idol kingdom. Although Adam was an early favorite with his huge vocals and in-your-face style and confidence, Kris Allen never gave up and came from obscurity in the early rounds to win it all. I am shocked but think America made the right choice!
Before the results were given, Adam and Kris highlighted their polar opposite styling in perfect fashion. Kris paired up with Keith Urban and gave us a radio-worthy version of “Kiss A Girl.” I think this performance is exactly why he is the American Idol. Even with Keith Urban on the stage with him, the song sounded like it should be on his album.
Adam gave us a bigger-than-life collaboration with Kiss, platform boots, space-shoulder pads and all. It was everything you want from Adam.
As one last gift to the Idol fans, both guys joined together for what we have been waiting for all season: Adam singing Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” And surprisingly, Kris holding his own!
As always, the three minutes it took to give us the results were crammed at the end of a two-hour celebrity binge of self-promotion, an opportunity I wouldn’t pass up but found admittedly annoying. Highlights included Kara DioGuardi showing up Bikini Girl in a vocal duel and then adding salt to the wounds by stripping down to a bikini as an inside joke/charity bet among the judges and Ryan. The Top 13 had lots of face time with each Idol getting at least one feature spot – something my season did not get, oh well.
Tomorrow the real work begins for Kris and the rest of the crew. They are joining the real world of the music industry and will start doing everything they can to parlay this amazing experience of American Idol into a huge lifelong career. But I hope each of them savor tonight as a very special moment in their lives. I want to give my congratulations to Kris and all his fans. He is a worthy Idol and I am truly excited for his CD. Adam and his fans should also be very proud. He is a superstar in his own right, and we will be seeing lots from him.
Thanks for sharing Idol with me this season and until next year, please keep in touch on Facebook, Twitter and www.philstacey.com – I should be coming around Ta-town soon! And don’t forget to check out my new album, “Into the Light” on Aug. 25. Peace out and be blessed!
26 Comments
i can die happy… i saw adam sing with queen.
Yay Kris!!! I enjoyed seeing all the “old timers” even if it was for promoting thier own projects…who cares. No worse than the dorky Ford ads every week. I hope Kris enjoys his new found stardom and stays humble. Adam has a brilliant career ahead of him. I expect we’ll be seeing him in award shows someday. I can see him really excelling on Broadway. Best of Luck to both of them. **Does anyone else hate the way they drag the blind guy all over the stage for thier production numbers? I can’t help it but all I can do during these numbers is watch to see if he’s going to fall off the stage or something! It’s distracting. Oh well…we’re done with that nonsense!
Oh man, the *Glamberts* on the Official American Idol forum boards are reeking of rancid grapes right now. They are blaming southern bigots, Danny Gokey’s pastor, Danny Gokey’s fans, tweens with cellphones (one Glambert suggested the other day that tweens have a supersecret texting or dialing program that allows them to vote 10,000 times per minute… how tweens across the country are all surreptiously spreading the word about this supersecret program was not explained), and all of the southern states for Adam’s loss. (Oddly, if Dial Idol’s geographical map is correct, Adam took a lot of the southern states and lost California, Oregon, Washington and New England). The Glamberts are predicting this win by Kris means Simon and Paula will quit the show because Adam lost (as opposed to not getting enough money to stay), that the show will be cancelled, and the ten plagues of Egypt will descend on America tomorrow for not annointing Adam tonight. (Well not the last one..but probably because they haven’t thought of it yet).
I think David Cook (who was wonderful with his song in memory of his brother) was right when he said with these two America could not get it wrong. But the Glamberts on that board are pretty vindictive and I must admit to thinking it serves them right for being so insufferable all season long. I got to the point where I ended every post with *Adam Lambert is very talented* to avoid getting trashed by them if I complimented any other contestant even remotely.
Kara PARTIALLY redeemed herself for that awful coronation song, in my eyes, when she upstaged bikini girl (who I hope we NEVER see again) and made an ass out of her. I don’t quite know about her flashing act but she does have a good figure!
I think the only idols not featured prominently tonight were Jorge and Scott. I’m not sure Scott even got a close up or line to sing on his own. I would have liked to see more of him, Matt, and Anoop, and less of Gokey who got two songs with Lionel Ritchie after butchering Hello. Allison was adorable with Cyndi Lauper. I like that Jason Mraz guy who evidently was rooting secretly for Kris if you caught his beaming face at the end of the show. Poor Rod Stewart should be heard and not seen. I thought both Danny and Adam were stellar in their duets with Urban and Kiss. And I loved their Queen duet.
Phil, thanks for doing the blog this season and good luck with your album this summer.
Until next season!
Shock and awe! What a fun show!!! I loved it all!!! So very happy for Kris.
Make sure you all come say hi on Facebook – its been fun! – Phil
Is anyone else totally sick of Kiss (i.e. Gene & Paul)?
They have 2 other guys dress up as Peter & Ace. The camera only glanced at “Peter” once, and the back shot of him… you could tell it was a wig. “Ace” got just a tad bit more air time than “Peter”. Basically, it was the Gene & Paul show!
I–wanna rock and roll all night. And party e-ver-y day. Woooooooohooooo! A-DAM. A-DAM. A-DAM! Pyrotechnics–fire–platforms–sequin eyeliner–Queen. Glamtastic. Nothing against Toby Keith, but Kris was robbed, in comparison. They both will go far. Wow.
Way to go Kris. I saw this coming after Danny got voted off. I think 3 things happened for Kris to win. 1. He got the Danny votes. 2. People were getting tired of Adam and his screaming/screeching. (I know I did) 3. All the cockiness of the judges that they were for sure that Adam was the winner weeks ago. I think is pissed some people off.
They both will have careers in their own field of music.
The best part of the night was Kara and bikini girl. That took alot for Kara to do that. She has stage fright. Bikini girl has definitely had some changes to her body as pointed out by Ryan.
Great night all together.
Touche` Monica…you hit the whole nail on the head!! I look forward to reading all of your blogs in January 2010!!
Some of you above me here don’t know who you were watching at what time last night. Toby Keith was never a presence, it was Keith Urgban. And it was Kris and Adam that did the duet with Queen, not Danny and Adam.
Surprised that Kris won? Not me, I had predicted several weeks ago that it was Adam’s title to lose and he did just that by being complacent and not overpowing the competition in the later weeks as he did in the earlier weeks.
I think that the Finale Show should only be one hour, so we can get the celebration started earlier. I think the pomp of all of these ’stars from the past’ was just giving Adam and Kris a chance to shine in the atmosphere they know best.
My moment was with the Black Eyed Peas and Fergie, and I truly enjoyed the duet with Lil Rounds and Queen Latifah. The Allison Iraheta/Cindy Lauper duet was a definite show stopper.
I am glad that ‘tatooed’ lady didn’t get any more air time than she did, I just don’t understand these young girls thinking that tatoos are cool, don’t they think about the years ahead and what it will look like when they are 70 years old.
Bikini Girl was truly one of the most ‘untalented’ contestants they have had, and Kara showed her a thing or two about stage presence. She hid her stage fright well, and did what needed to be done with the plastic bikini girl.
And I hope we have heard the last from Norman Gentle aka Nick Mitchell.
Phil you have been a joy to read, and follow with your insights to the competition, and I only posted when I thought you might have overlooked something. Thanks, and hope that you have time to do it again next year. It was the bright spot for reading here on the internet. Thanks, again. I still think you got robbed. I am a member of the ’secret’ Phil Stacey fan club.
I agree with mamamea and totally called the results for that same reason. I’m just pissed I missed the first hour the 2nd hour was awesome and Allyson with Cindy Lauper THAT was cool. Adam and Kris are both talented in their own rights, I haven’t been a big Adam fan, but last night, given the right ’staging’ he proved all he can perform. I loved him with KISS, even if it wasn’t the whole real KISS. I honestly feel this is the best for him ala Doughtry, Adam can find his niche with a band or whatever & not be pigeonholed into the American Idol label. Kris will be fine, he is soulfull and talented but they are just apples to oranges. I just heard on the local radio here: one is steak the other is salmon. Both fine in the own way. I agree.
Thanks to all of you, I have enjoyed reading your comments each week. Thank you Phil and best of luck on you upcoming album.
Ack..I KNOW it was Kris and Adam that did the duet with Queen. WHY did I say Danny? I didn’t even have my usual glass of wine last night! I think it was because somehow some dastardly rays were emitting from Danny’s glasses through my TV and into my head saying *think of me think of me think of me* as punishment for not liking him.
We all know Adam’s voice is much better and stronger than Kris’ voice and Adam did deserve to win. The thing I am most proud of (beside’s Adam’s voice and appearance on Idol) is Adam’s behavior on stage last night when the winner was announced. He is most polite and gracious AND smiling when the chips were down for him. Good for you Adam! It was not only last night, but all through the season this ‘attitude’ with Adam was apparent. At least for me anyway. This kid will go very far now that he has exposure and his kind nature behind this powerhouse of a voice will take him even that much farther.
My bad. Keith Urban. That’s how little of an impression it made. It was blah. After KISS, my husband and I racked our brains to remember who Kris got to sing with.
But I’ll never forget that Adam performed with KISS.
I thought all along that Adam would win…..but was not suprized after the last couple of weeks. I really think Kris pulled the Gokey vote and that was the deciding factor. Adam is wonderful…don’t misunderstand. My daughter made me see that he may not be good for radio. He would be good on hard rock stations, but as for the general listening public, maybe not so much. But……look out Broadway! I predict a HUGE success and wish him well. Kris will be a star in his own right. I just hope he is tougher than he looks and the industry doesn’t eat him alive! I love his look and his singing and playing style! The duet with Keith Urban was excellent. Good luck Kris! and thanks Phil for this blog! I’ve enjoyed it!
I have been an Adam fan since day one, but am extremely happy for Kris as he has come a long way. They are both winners and both are going to far in their careers. I heard on the radio this morning how much former AI winners make a yr. Carrie Underwood made over 14 mil last year while Taylor Hicks made only 300,00. Even Kelly Pickler is making millions just being in the top 6. So Adam and Kris are gonna do great. This finale brought back memories of Ruben & Clay in their finale…..just about everyone was for sure Clay was gonna be crowend and should have been. He has done far better that Ruben.
I really hope this is Kara’s last time on the show – she has gotta go!!!!
Loved Kris and Keith Urban. I’m a country fan but also love Adam with Kiss. He fits that nitch. What talent in both finalists. Looking forward to seeing more of both.
Surprise of the night I found out while reading on another blog that Adam is really a redhead.
Looking forward to next year with 3 judges again and hope Simon is still around.
I’m thrilled that Kris won, and not at all surprised. Every time I watched, I wished that Adam would just “sing” and stop his screeching. It was very offputting to a lot of people. That said, I really DO think he could sing very well, just wish he would have toned it down once in a while. Kris’ self-depricating attitude is part of what is so likeable about him. They both have good voices and will go far. I’m excited to see what they do next.
Not the whole real KISS? They have two guys dress up as Peter & Ace? Hey, it was Peter and Ace that blew their careers as KISS members. Eric and Tommy do a much better job as the cat and spaceman characters and it is very much the REAL KISS. I still want to Rock And Roll All Nite And Party Every Day!!
Yeah , Kris won!! You know what’s funny? I only voted, actually voted, for the first couple of weeks and one of the people I consistently voted for from the beginning is Kris so I think its amusing when I read so many comments about just where poor little Kris got his votes from. I think that just maybe he had a lot of fans who loved him from the beginning and didn’t believe the negative comments he pretty consistently received from the “judges” while they heaped the praise on their favorites. And how about that Lil, she did great and did not seem like an imitation at all. It was also good to see Alexis again, I felt she was voted off too soon. Someone earlier commented that Adam never showed a soft side but he did, like Tuesday night singing “Mad World”. Adam is great but I think he was just a touch arrogant and apparently America prefers a bit more humility. I’m not worried about Adam. He is a star but give me that Kris cd!
Kris totally deserved it. I have never ever ever like Adam I don’t think that screaming is considered singing. I could be a singer if that is all I had to do. Kris is a great singer and has an amazing voice and deserved it all the way!
Adam’s voice is so not better than Kris! Adam just screams doesn’t sing! If he would just sing he might be good!
Love Kris!!!! HATE Adam!
I need to add that for all the Kara bashing that went on this season, much of it deserved, the girl showed that she can really sing last night! Loved her part in the show.
And Keith Urban/Kris Allen….that was GOOD stuff.
Thought Allison outsang Cyndi Lauper.
Monica/ May 20/ I’m so glad you thought Adam & (DANNY’S ???) duets with Keith Urban and Kiss were stellar! Since it was not Danny who dueted with Keith Urban!!!!! SEE HOW FAST YOU FORGOT ABOUT KRIS?????. This is also about how fast American will forget him as well. Cheers!